Fed DOE in the school loan business

The Fed DOE was responsible for over 1 Trillion in student loans in 2024. Why are they in the Loan business?

In 1971 when I ventured off to college I rode my bicycle down to my bank where I had $350.00 in a savings account and asked for a loan to pay the cost of a year at school. They were happy to loan me $1,900.00 in tuition, books and room and board for the years education. The terms of repayment were fair as they gave me 6 months after I left school to repay the loan.

Anyway, does the Fed gov need to be in the student loan business when there are thousands of banks and loan companies that are in the business of doing that same thing?

The Student Loan is what has killed higher education. It went from being student focused with research (professors had to eat what the killed via research and publishing) to a Business model focused on number of students on campus.